Dry-pipe valve for automatic fire-extinguishing systems.



E. 0. VAN NESS. DRY PIPE VALVE FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20. l9l6- I 1,21 1,014. v v v Patented Jan.2,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES INVEIV'TOR g Www {g a M5zwa E M) ATTORNEY E. D. VAN NESS- DRYPIPE VALVE FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTlNGUlSHiNG SYSTEMS.

. v APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20. 1916. 1.21 1,014.;

Patented J an. 2, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

lllll Hill,

I mlrlll III I JTTORNEY rirnn s'ra'rns PA EN orrlos.

EUGENE D. VAN NESS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y,

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, Enonwn I). VAN Nnss, a'citizen of the UnitedStates, residin at New York, county and State of New iork,

' have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drylipe valvesfor Automatic Fire-Extinguishing Systems, of which the following is aspecification.

' This invention relates to improvements in dry pipe valves of automaticfire extinguishing systems and has for its object to provide a dry pipevalve, the operation of which is controlled by electrical membersadapted to fuse a portion of the valve mechanism at a prearranged signalactuated at the outbreak of fire. I

A further object is to provide a dry pipe valve having means forapplying a fixed degree of compression to, and maintaining it 0 in thewater closure of my valve without the useor agency of air or water andindependout of thesepressures in the valve chamber. A further object isto provide a dry pipe r valve which will permit the use of a more 5'simplified signal and alarm system in its connections, and one whichwill eliminate the auxiliary variable pressure alarm systeinheretofore'necessary in pneumaticallycontrolled dry pipe valves.

.A further object is to provide a dry pipe valve insuring a moreeifective and reliable .water seal and quicker and more reliableoperation in case of fire, and one which will eliminate various otherdefects of pneumatically-controlled valves now in general use.

These and other objects of my invention are described in the annexedspecification and are shown in the accompanying drawings, theparticularfeatures of novelty constituting my invention being pointed out in theclaims at the end of this specification.

. 1 Referring to the drawings, which form a part of this specification:Figure 1 is a dia grammatic view showing my invention, the

valve casing and part of the closing mechanism being in section; Fig. 2is a horizontal section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig.

3 is a plan view of the fusible link, a part being broken away to showthe arrangement of thefusing wires; Fig. 1 is a .side

elevation of astrut forming part of the closing mechanism. a

, m, .1;indi'cates the casing of my valve.

Q is the nozzle of a water supply pipe, and

5 3 the water closure of the same. In order to insure against leakage Iprefer to grind Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed June20, 1916. Serial 1T0. 104,752.

Patented Jan. 2, 191 *7.

the opposing surfaces of the nozzle and the water closure, and anon-corrosive washer 4-, of oiled or rubberized paper or fabric, may beinterposed between the nozzle and water closure. The valve casing hashand holes 67, to permit of access to the interior. The water supplypipe 5 may be provided with a shut-off valve 6, and the casing 1 has anoutlet 7, leading into a drain pipe 7. A'cutoif valve 8 controls theoutlet 7.

At the upper part of the casing l, a riser 9, in open communication withthe interior of the said casing, leads to the water delivery.

pipes 10 and sprinkler heads 11 of the sprinkler system. I have shown.in the drawings only one each of such delivery pipes and sprinklerheads,but it will be un-, derstood that all the water delivery pipes 10 of thesprinkler system lead out of the riser 9, and receive their water supplytherefrom,

and that said delivery pipesare provided with as many sprinkler heads 11as are necessary or desirable.

The casing 1 may have flanges 12, 13, which may be bolted to flanges 14,15, on the main water supply pipe, or it may be secured around thenozzle 2 in any other usual or desired manner.

In the casing 1, at a point approximately opposite to the nozzle 2, Ithreaded opening 16, to receive a screw 17, or some other means ofapplying compres sion, and between said screw 17, and the water closure3, I inter-pose a strut, which I prefer to construct substantially asfollows: A foundation piece 18 is-provided with two outwardly extendingarms 19, 20, which have a transverse groove 30 on their outer ends-toreceive the wedge shaped trunnions 31 of a tipping piece 21 which isretatably mounted thereon.

The head 22 of the tipping piece has a *rceess 23, to receive aeonicalend 24 of the water closure; while a pointed end 25 on the foundationpiece 18 is adapted to seat in a recess 26 in the end of the means ofcompression l7. AnL shaped tripping piece 27 is pivotally secured to thefoundation piece 18 on a pivot pin 28, which passes through saidfoundation piece, and the tipping piece has a tongue 29 which extendsfrom the trunnions 21, between the arms 19, 20, to a point near thebottom of the foundation. piece where it normally engages the trippingpiece 27, which is adapted, when the parts are in normal position, tohold form a screwring if), of

of the battery 38.

the strut together by preventing the tipping piece 21 from tin-nin butwhen the tripping piece 27 is allowed to turn upon its pivot pin '28, itpermits the tipping piece 21 to turn on its trunnions-31, when thetipping piece and the foundationpiece will fall apart and release thewater closure 3.

In order to hold the tripping piece 27 in its normal position, andprevent the tipping piece 21 from turning on its trunnions until a fireoccurs, 1 provide a fusible link 32, formed of two approximately Lshaped pieces of metal 33, 3+, or other suitable material, which arejoined together by fusible solder 85, in which are inserted the wires36, 37, of an electrical battery 38, the ends of the wires beingseparated in the solder suliiciently to form an are when the current isclosed, which will develop heat sullicient to melt the solder 35, andrelease the parts 3%, of the link.

The L shaped tripping piece 27 being pivotally secured to the foundationpiece 18, one of its arms 89 extends toward the waterclosure 3 a.sullicient distance to engage the tongue 29 of the tipping piece 21, tohold it in its normal position. The other arm 40 has a screweye or hook4E1 secured to it, which receives a ring 42, made of glass or othernon-comlucting material, which is held by a screw-eye or hook 43, whichis attached to the part 3 3 of the link The other part 34 of the link 32is also provided with a screw-eye or hook i which receives a lass orother non-conducting material, wlncl is held by a screw-eye or hook 46,attached to the wall of the casing 1. Thus constructed the link is heldinsulated except as it is connected to the wires 36, 37, The wires 86,37, lead from the interior of the fusible solder 35 to binding posts l7,l8, secured to the wall of the casing 1. and from the binding post l?one wire it) leads to the battery 38. while I check valve. (3!, and acut oil valve (32.

another wire 50, leads from the post +8 to a conta t point 51, on a highand low pressure alarm gage 52, which is of the usual constructionexcept that its index finger 53, is provided with a contact point fi-l,and the gage itself has the low pressure contact point 51, and a highpressure contact point 55, from the latter of which a wire 56 leads tothe battery 35. A wire 57 connects the index linger 53 with the battery38. A pipe 5o, leads from the interior of the gage #12 to the interiorof the valve casing 1, and a branch pipe 5%) leads from the pipe .38 toan air pump it). and is provided with av The air pump on is adapted toforce air in to the dry pipe valv casing l. to the gage 5'3 through thepipe 8. aml through the riser t) throughout the. water dcli\c.r v pipes10 aml to the prinkler heads ll of the [ire extinguishing system.

The groove 30 is out of line with the conical end 9i of the waterclosure 3, and the pointed end 25 of the foundation piece 18, so that aspressure is put upon the strut by the means of compression screw 17, aleverage is formed between the parts, tending to turn the tipping piece21 on its trunnions 31, and throw its tongue 29 out from between thearms 19, 20, of the foundation piece. But, so long as the fusible link32 remains together, it will hold the arm 40 of the tripping piece 27 inplace, and the other arm 39 of the tripping piece will hold the tongue29 between the said arms, and prevent the tipping piece from turning. The moment the fusible solder is melted however, the two parts 33, 3t ofthe fusible link will separate, releasing the tripping piece 27, andallow the tipping piece 21 to turn on its trunnions 31, until the strutwill also fall apart thereby releasing the water closure 3, which withthe tipping piece will fall into the bottom of the casing l, and thewater in the pipe 5 will be free to how into the riser 9 and through thewater delivery pipes 10 to the sprinkler heads 11.

The battery 38 has three cells, 63, 6- 65. The negative pole of the cell63 is connected with the high pressure contact point of the gage .72.and its positive pole with one binding post of the alarm bell (36. Thepositive-pole of the cell 6% is connected with the index linger 53 ofthe gage, and its negative pole to the other binding postof the alarmbell. The negative pole of the cell is connected to the binding'post 47leading to the fusible link, while its positive pole is grounded.

in operation. the water closure 3 is placed on the nozzle '2 of thewater pipe 5, with the non-corrosive washer-4 between the nozzle andclosure. The strut is then secured in place between the water closureand means of compression and compression is plied b the screw or othermeans 17, the usible link being put in place to hold the tripping piecein working position as hereinbefore de scribed. Air is then forced intothe valve casing. the gage, the water delivery pipes 10, aml thesprinkler heads, until the index finger 53 of the gage is held by theair pressure at a desired position preferably midway be tween the highand low pressure contact points of the gage. \Vhile all this is beingdone the. electrical connection between the battery and the fusible linkshould be interruptcrhbnt when all the parts are inthe above describedposition, the electrical .conncction may be made. I

The sprinkler heads used in this system may be of any usual or desiredconstruction, but should have a fusible strut adapted to fuse at aprcdctermincd temperature upon the outbreak of lire.

The moment a fire occurs, the sprinkler heads nearest the fire will beacted upon, and their water closures released opening their waterdelivery pipes when the air in the pipes and in. the valve casing willescape through the open sprinkler heads and out of the gage 52, theindex linger 53 of which will move until its contact point 54 strikesthe low pressure contact point 51. The instant this occurs a currentwill pass from cells. 64, (35, through wires ll", 48,,3l}, 37, to thefusible solder 35, making an are which will fuse the solder and. allowthe parts 33, 34, of the fusible link to fall apart, allowing the tripping piece to release the tongue of the'tipping piece, the strut to fallapart releasing the water closure, and allowing water to enter the valvecasing, gage, riser, water delivery pipes and. sprinklers. As the waterwhich is under high pressure passes from the casing 1 to the gage,through the pipe 58, the index finger of the gage will be carried aroundbythe pressure of the water until. its contact point strikes the highpressure contact point 55, completing the circuit' between cells 63, 64and the alarm bell 66, which will sound an. alarm. The gage and batterywith their connections therefore form a signal system one impulse ofwhich causes the fusing ofv the link and releases the water, while theother impulse causes the sounding of the fire alarm.

In other dry-pipe valve systems the water closure is kept upon its seatupon the nozzle of the water pipe by the air pressure in the valve, andconsequently it is necessary to maintain a compressed air plant tomaintain the requisite air pressure in the valve and system.Furthermore, owing to variations in pressure caused b varyingtemperatures and other causes, it has also been necessary to maintainwhat has been called a variable pressure alarm system in connection withthese valves. Again, owing to variations in pressure, leakage betweenthe water closure and nozzle has been of frequent occurrence, and incold weather such systems have been rendered inefficient or in operativeby thefrcezing of this water in the valve. 1 overcome all thesedisadvantages by my constructions. I close the nozzlc of my water pipeby a.water closure held in positive engagement with the nozzle under apredetermined degree of compression,

and in such manner that leakages are im-.

possible. As avery small air pressure is sufficient in my system, asimple air pump, operated by hand, is all that is necessary ton'iaintain the necessary pressure, as l do not use the air for holdingthe water closure, but only for the purpose oi actuating the alarm andsignal system, and the electrical fusing curilnt. I

My fusible link is sensitive and positive in action, while my strut,being under a high I degree of compression. not onlvholds the aterclosure positively and rigidly to its seat on the nozzle of the waterinlet so that no leakage can possibly occur, but it acts instantly andforcibly to release the closure to permit the flow of water, and" alsoin sounding an alarm.

Having now described my invent-inf what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is rreleased by the electrical fusing of aportion of its mechanism, and an electrical system connected therewithadapted to communicate a fusing impulse to said mechanism upon theoutbreak of fire.

l. A dry pipe valve having means for applying and maintaining a fixeddegree of compression upon its closing mechanism without the use of airor water and independent of any of these pressures in its valve chamberor system piping, and electrically fusible means controlling the releaseof said closing mechanism.

5. In fire extinguishing systems, a dry pipe valve having a valvechamber in open communication with a. sprinkler system, a water supplypipe opening into said chamher and closing mechanism therefor whichincludes a strut, and electrically fusible means for controlling saidstrut and adapted to operate the same upon the outbreak of fire. i V 6.In lire extinguishing systems, a dry pipe valve having a valve chamberin open communication with a sprinkler system, a, water supply pipeopening into said chamber, a water closing mechanism for said pipe whichincludes a strut which is interposed bctwccn said closing mechanism andexterior supporting means, means for applying compression to said strut,and elec trically fusible means controlling said strut and adapted tooperate the same at the outbreak of fire.

-7. A dry pipe valve for automatic fire extinguishment, comprising avalve chamber, a water supply pipe and closing mechanism therefor, andelectrical members adapted at one impulse to fuse a portion of saidclosing mechanism upon the out break ol lire or other prearrangedsignal, .aud to sound an alarm at another impulse thereof.

8. In a dry pipe valve for automatic fire strut normally holding saidclosure under.

pressure, a :i'usible link controlling said strut, and means forelectrically fusing said link at a prearranged condition of the system.

10. In tire extinguishing systems, a dry pipe valve having a valvechamber, a water supply pipe opening into said chamber, a

nter closure for said pipe, a strut engaging said water closure, meansfor a pplying compression upon said strut, a fusible link controllingsaid strut, and means for electrically fusmg said link.

11. In tire extinguishing systems, a dry pipe valve having a valvechamber, a water supply pipe opening into said chamber, a

water closure for said pipe, a closure arranged within said chamber andnormally holding said closure in operative position,

a fusible link controlling said strut, and means for electrically fusingsaid link at a prearranged condition of the system.

1'1. In lire extinguishing systems, a dry pipe valve having a valvechamber, a water supply pipe opening into said chamber, a water closurefor said pipe, adjustable means for compressing said closure againstsaid pipe, :1 fusible link controlling the operation of said adjustablemeans, andmeans l'or electricallyfusing said link at a prearrangedcondition of the system.

in. testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of mo subscribing witnesses. this 17th day of June, 1915.

EUGENE D. VAN NESS.

\Vi tuesses:

WILLIAM E. Riel-mans, (banners Rirssnrn

